Monday, May 21, 2012

Power Politics

The word democracy originates from the Greek word δημοκρατία (dēmokratía), which means "rule of the people". In practice, democracy is the extent to which a given system approximates this ideal.

The purest form is direct democracy in which all citizens are allowed to influence policy by means of a direct vote, or referendum, on any issue of governance. Elements of direct democracy can exist on a local level, and on exceptions on national level, in countries which embrace the concept.

The more common form of indirect democracy refers to a system of governance by the people through the proxy of elected representatives, leaders and representatives who are ideally democratically selected without resort to gerrymandering or similar perverse inventions. Edmund Burke's Principle states that representatives should act upon their own conscience in the affairs of a representative democracy. Problems surface when those "elected" representatives are inclined to follow the party line on issues, rather than either the will of their conscience or constituents.

Universal elements considered essential to democracy include freedom of political expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, so that all citizens have equal access to information and do not feel intimidated to vote according to their own best interests as they see fit. It was a much younger Lee Kuan Yew who once presented it this way (Hansard, April 27, 1955):

"If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought, and no excuse, whether of security, inconvenience to traffic, or inconvenience to police officers, should allow a government to be deterred from doing what it knows to be right, and what is must know to be right."

It was disturbing therefore, to read PM Lee's advice in support of Desmond Choo, "The voters in Hougang should consider carefully, not blindly, but carefully who is the best candidate, who can best represent them well, who will work best for them and has the strongest backing and look after them and that is the way democracy is meant to work." The subtle nuance that the power of the people should surrender to the accumulated power of the political party is not missed. That was how Hitler played the game with his Brown Shirts, the "Sturmabteilung" who snuffed out his Social Democrats and Communists opponents by sheer political organisation. From the perspective of an ex-general, it must be tempting to subscribe to the Mao doctrine, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Has it finally come down to this?

When Lee Kuan Yew was at a Commonwealth Prime Ministers' meeting in London, he observed that two young colonels were representing the Nigerian and Ghana governments. This is what he told the University of Singapore Society afterwards on 7 October 1966: "Pray that my successor will be an economist. Then you have a future."

The Dear Leader supports Fascism? Why am I not surprised? He is after all the offshoot of the old man who loves reading Machiavelli and says that he would rather be 'feared than loved, otherwise he will be irrelevant.' Indeed, the apple does not fall from the tree.

In his new book - The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy, author William Dobson has this to say: -

These New Age autocrats, he says, can no longer rule by brute force. Instead, they use “more subtle forms of coercion” while investing heavily in maintaining the appearance of rights, law, and elections, and keeping their borders open so that opponents can always leave. “Modern dictators,” he contends, “understand it is better to appear to win a contested election than to openly steal it.”

I am just surprised our leaders didn't take it to the Hall of Fame. After all, they have perfected the art to 200% sophistry and are always keen to be No#1

"......he observed that two young colonels were representing the Nigerian and Ghana governments."

I have the same concern as him too. Looking at the current cabinet setup, it is obvious that half of the ministers are either from the Army or from civil service. Where are the economists LKY was wishing for?

Goes to show, the one with implicit 'strongest backing' is hardly an underdog. Is a sly wolf in dog's skin. The little red hougang hood must beware of the famous fable. ----

"Little Red Riding Hood then says, "What a deep voice you have,""The better to greet you with," said the wolf."Goodness, what big eyes you have.", said the little girl."The better to see you with.", said the wolf. "And what big hands you have!" exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood, stepping over to the bed. "The better to hug you with," said the wolf. "What a big mouth you have," the little girl murmured in a weak voice. "The better to eat you with!" growled the wolf, and jumping out of bed, he swallowed her up too. Then, with a fat full tummy, he fell fast asleep."

"Few Men of Virtue to Withstand the Highest Bidder" ...George Washington.

We have always known there are 20,000+ voters in a certain corner of Singapore that have demonstrated that virtue over and over, last 20+ years. It says a lot about their steadfastness and what really matters to them, than mere pawns some people wish to paint them to be.

Well, not exactly, as GCH, his immediate. Successor was schooled in Economics, but not with a PhD. That can be crucial, as anyone who do a Master in any USA top University will ineverably get indoctrinated with that "growth " philosophy. Nothing wrong with growth, except that nothing else matters to those buy this doctrine.

“All democracies are based on the proposition that power is very dangerous and that it is extremely important not to let any one person or small group have too much power for too long a time” - Aldous Huxley

The fruit cannot fall very far from the tree at all, especially if it's a case of the son having the similar ideology as the father. I am not even surprised at all, because prior to this, the son had the strategy of reminding Singaporeans that only those who vote for the PAP will be placed on their "priority list". So my advice is this: if you want to be good enough, everyone should vote for something other than the PAP and fall out of the PAP's priority list, so that there will be a new priority list! Hahahaha

That is definately not inclusive policy. Here in one hand they keep on asking Singaporean to stay as one nation, one people, one Singapore but on the other hand they play the "if you do not vote me in, you will get no MRT and 'no' upgrading". Look at Potong Pasir and HG. No upgrading for so long. MRT station at PP has been closed off for years. Reason, not enough residents. All bulls!!

Potong Pasir under PAP Seetoh, last I understand, is going for 48 blocks of upgrading. Presumably as a reward for their 'long sufferings' or 'successful bribes', whichever you want to see it.

I've long maintained that Quid Pro Votes is not an act of true service. If Desmond Choo claimed to have done so much within 15 months, surely HG residents can look forward to even more things for the next 15 years without strings attached. If PAP govt throws in the 48 upgrading programs under an all-inclusive umbrella, surely that would show his genuine sincerity, that he can pressure the DPM Teo his mentor to do more without sacrificing democracy and residents' well being. He has talked the talk, now HG voters just have to let him walk the walks on his GRO ticket.

The PAP believes it "has the strongest backing" for it's candidate. It is flaunting it's strength as if this is it's divine right. But we know this is not so, because in a true democracy it's mandate comes from the people. Therefore vote wisely because this power is dangerous if concentrated into a person, group or party for too long.

Political power comes from the ballot box at the moment. It will only grow out of the barrel of a gun in a revolutionary situation, like in the Arab Spring.

You would never put all your financial eggs in one basket, would you? Then why would you put all your children's future eggs in one national basket?

It takes 45 years to have a breakthrough in 1 GRC & 5 Opposition MPs (the most in SG's history) at this near 'breaking point', how long do you think it will take to make it an equilibrium 2 or 3 party state? How many 5 years does one have?

Assuming you live till 80yrs, it is 16 to be exact. And assuming too you get to vote with no walk-overs.

Mao doctrine, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."Mao's situation is different from Singapore's. If you read history, you would know that in the very beginning, Mao and his comrades including Zhou Enlai and others, believed peaceful way of saving the rotten China social system but was later convinced that China could only be saved by revolution, i.e. armed struggle with the warlords and the dictator government. That is why Mao later said, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." It is a fact that without armed struggle there will not be change in the old China regime. It is also a fact that it was the Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek started the civil war in China because he thought his powerful army backed by the United States could eliminate the communists by force. Chiang was a dictator who believed in killing his opponents by assassination.

"Pray that my successor will be an economist. Then you have a future."It is a fact that LKY's successor is an economist who warmed up the PM seat for his son. It is irony that his son was an army general though he is only a paper general. Singapore's paper generals are no Chinese PLA generals. The latter have real war experience and were raised from rank and file.

LKY is much like Chiang Kai-shek. Both are so-called democracy believers, now and then. Both are hardcore dictators. Both are also hypocrite as well. Anyway, how many power-crazy politicians are not hypocrite?

"LKY is much like Chiang Kai-shek"Agree, except that LKY is the bigger hypocrite and probably the biggest amongst the Chinese.

CKS fought against Mao, a true blue communist. LKY was hard core anti-communist for 3 decades but in recent years shamelessly kissing the PRC ass....even deemed it fit to import 2 million of them into Spore. Truly abominable considering Spore being a tiny island.

"LKY is much like Chiang Kai-shek. Both are so-called democracy believers, now and then. Both are hardcore dictators. Both are also hypocrite as well."

The main difference is subsequently Chiang Kai-shek get to repent by having his son Chiang Ching-kuo eventually making Taiwan one of the greatest true democratic country in the world whereas the clown prince continue his father's path as the greatest wayang and dictatorship in the world.

About Me

"There is nothing to prevent you from pushing your propaganda, to push your programme out either to the students or with the public at large... and if you can carry the ground, if you are right, you win. That's democracy. We're not preventing anybody" ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 31 January 2005